Expansion resistant rolling mill frame of reduced height



K. NEUMANN July 12, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1963 lmlllml July 12, 1966 K. NEUMANN 3,260,094

EXPANSION RESISTANT ROLLING MILL FRAME 0F REDUCED HEIGHT Filed July 1, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 12, 1966 K. NEUMANN EXPANSION RESISTANT ROLLING MILL FRAME OF REDUCED HEIGHT Filed July 1, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 K. NEUMANN July 12, 1966 EXPANSION RESISTANT ROLLING MILL FRAME OF REDUCED HEIGHT Filed July 1,

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 K. NEUMANN July 12,1966

EXPANSION RESISTANT ROLLING MILL FRAME OF REDUCED HEIGHT Filed July 1, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 7 Claims. 61. 72-237 The present invention relates to an expansion resistant rolling mill frame of reduced height, and particularly to a rolling mill frame having portions projecting into the pedestal openings in which the chucks are mounted in a tiltable manner.

In a prior art as shown in French Patents 1,259,782 and 1,376,766 expansion resistant rolling mill frame the chucks mounted above each other are interconnected by pairs of links which absorb the rolling pressure over an expansion distance which is made as short as possible. Furthermore, the links engage the cylindrical pins at the horizontal center plane of the horizontal rollers so that the chucks may adjust themselves freely while following the bending or deflection of the rollers, and cylindrical roller bearings comprising several adjacent rows of bearings may be employed also for small rolling pressures at high rolling speeds.

For adjusting or screwing down the rollers in this prior art construction a rotatable eccentric sleeve is inserted between the pins of the upper chucks and the associated bores of the links which thus constitutes a known eccentric adjusting arrangement. As no additional rough adjustment of the rolling gap is possible without using links of a different length, the available adjusting distances are relatively small. Furthermore, an eccentric rotation also causes at the same time an axial displacement of the upper roller which must be eliminated by providing a special construction when standard rollers are employed.

It has been discovered that the omission of the usual pressure or break-down spindles have a decisive effect in reducing the expansion distance of rolling mill frames which have chucks that are arranged in openings of the frame stands or pedestals, because the rigidity of the frame increases according to Hooks law in the ratio that the expansion distance is decreased.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a rolling mill frame of the pedestal type having no pressure spindles, and furthermore no eccentric adjustment, and in which the chucks are supported in the horizontal center plane of the horizontal rollers in a freely tiltable manner during deflections of the rollers so that cylinder roller hearings or slide bearings comprising several adjacent rows of bearings may be employed.

According to the invention the chucks are supported in a tiltable manner on projections which extend in the horizontal center plane of the horizontal rollers. These projections narrow down the chuck receiving openings in the pedestal parts which take up the rolling pressure and form parts of the vertically adjustable pedestal caps for supporting the chucks of at least one horizontal roller, preferably of the upper horizontal roller. It is known to vertically adjust pedestal caps and with them the upper roller but only for the purpose of a very fine adjustment or tolerance-free rolling. For a coarse adjustment of the rolling gap the chucks of the lower roller or the chucks of the upper roller are still adjustable relative to the pedestal caps through pressure spindles. Furthermore, the rolling frames which have adjustable pedestal caps lack the feature of a tiltable support of the chucks in the horizontal center plane of the horizontal rollers or in the vertical center plane of vertical rollers in constructing a rolling frame as a vertical frame.

In most cases it will be sufiicient to provide only one upper adjustable pedestal cap having projections which extend in the horizontal center plane of the upper horizontal roller. However, in the case where the rolling line is to be held during adjusting movements it would be possible to make also the lower chucks adjustable by means of a lower adjustable pedestal cap. In such an arrangement the rolling frame would then be supported on the base plate at the central pedestal portions which contain the chuck receiving openings.

The essential advantage of this invention lies in the fact that the rolling pressure does not act as heretofore through a pressure spindle centrally on a pedestal cap or a cross yoke of a closed pedestal, but is passed on in two half portions over two projections which are located away from the vertical center plane of the roller frame directly to the pedestal caps and to the lower cross yoke of the lower pedestal parts. The bending stresses to be absorbed by these parts are thus considerably diminished which, besides the decreased expansion distance based on the decreased height due to the elimination of the pressure spindles, has also an advantageous influence on the rigidity of the frame.

In the drawing an embodiment of the rolling mill frame of the invention is illustrated and will be described hereinafter, but it should be understood that various changes may 'be made from the embodiment disclosed in which the upper pedestal cap is made adjustable, and that the drawings and the description are not to be construed as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in section of a'rolling mill frame according to the invention taken along line I-I of FIGURE 3.

FIGS. 2 and 2a are front elevation views of a rolling mill frame according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section along line IIIIII of FIGURE 1 and FIG. 4 is a partial section along line IV--IV of FIG- URE l.

The rolling mill frame is represented as a horizontal type frame and has two U-shaped pedestals 1 and 2 and chucks 3 and 4 of the rollers 5 and 6 are received in the openings provided between the legs of the U-shaped pedestals. The rollers are journalled in cylindrical roller bearings 7 consisting of four adjacent rings of bearing rollers.

In the horizontal center plane 8 of the lower roller 6 the pedestals 1 and 2 have projections 1a and 2a which reduce the opening in the U-shaped base members below this horizontal center plane. The lower chucks 4 have a corresponding claw or abutment 4a which rests on these projections of the base members and the chucks are thus supported on the projections and in a tiltable manner as seen in FIGURE 4 of the drawing, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter in connection with the tiltable support of the upper chucks 3.

The pedestal caps 10 and 11 which are supported on the U-shaped base members through tie rods 17 in a vertically adjustable manner as will be described hereinafter, have also projections 10a and 11a forming abutments for corresponding claws 3a of the upper chucks 3. The projections 10a and 11a and the corresponding claws 3:; also meet in the horizontal center plane 9 of the upper roller 5 and the chucks are similarly arranged in a tiltable manner. In FIGURE 4 is shown in detail how the projections 10a of the pedestal caps 10 carry straight support plates 12 which cooperate with curved support plates 13 of the claws 3a of upper chucks 3 in the manner of a knife edge bearing. Accordingly, it will be noted that the tilting movement of the chucks in case of roller defiections during the rolling process are made possible in this manner. The chucks 3 of upper roller 5 are arranged in a known manner to maintain a weight balance, for example by means of tension rods 14, pressure tubes and pressure springs 16.

In order to prevent the chucks from moving sideways relative to the openings in the U-shaped pedestals or pedestal caps the support plates 12 connected to projections 10a and corresponding to the subjacent curved plate 13 are enlarged to form a ledge 120, this ledge permitting the tilting movements that take place during the rolling operation. These ledges 12a increase the size of the support plates 12 radially inwardly and thereby increase in the case of a specific opening between the projections the effective bearing surfaces at the knife edge bearing, and in particular the lever arms with which the bearing pressures are applied and which determine the deformation of the chucks are reduced. The rigidity of the chucks which receive the bearings 7 may be improved by increasing the wall thickness on the right and left adjacent the grooves which receive the ledges 12a and 13a.

In order to allow the adjustment or guiding of the pedestal caps 10, two tie rods 17 are threaded on each side into the columns of the pedestals 1 and 2. By providing a releasable assembly of the tie rods the working of the vertical guides for the pedestal caps is facilitated in respect of an arrangement where the columns extend over the length of the tie rods which would be theoretically possible. For the vertical adjustment of the pedestal caps screw sleeves 18 are fitted over the ends of the tie rods 17. The sleeves 18 have an inner collar 18a by means of which they are held between the face surfaces of the tie rods and the head of a tension bolt 19 which is threaded in at the face side. The screw sleeves 18 carry an adjusting nut 20 which is rota-tably mounted in the pedestal cap 10, but which is axially stationary. An intermediate wheel 21 engages the adjusting nut 20 and meshes with a pinion 22 and is driven by this pinion over a vertical shaft 23 and a pair of level gears 24, 25 connected to a suitable motor. By means of hydraulic ring cylinders 27 having ring rollers 28 the pedestal caps 10, 11 are pressed against the tie rod ends in order to eliminate any play in the threads and in the bearings.

As may be seen in FIGURES 1 and 3 the diameter of the rollers is larger than the opening between the pairs of horizontally opposite projections 1a and 2a or 10a and 11a. As a dismantling of the rollers through the top is not very practical due to the adjusting devices for the pedestal caps 10 and 11, and since a dismantling of the rollers together with the chucks toward one side is not possible because of the small opening due to the projections, the invention provides that the. pedestals 1 and 2 together with their respective pedestal caps 10 and 11 may be moved away from each other after releasing the cross arms 26 illustrated in FIGURES 2, 2a and 3.

In the rolling mill frame of this invention the small overall height which is otherwise possible only in a construction without pedestals and the small wall thickness A of the lower cross yoke of the pedestals l and 2 and the small wall thickness B of the pedestal caps is particularly notable. These features are obtained in that the central pressure spindles of the adjusting device are eliminated and that the rolling pressure is transferred into the base portions and into the pedestal caps away from the vertical roller plane over the projections 10:, 2a and 1%, 11a, which reduce the bending stresses in the cross yokes and the pedestal caps toa minimum.

The construction disclosed is technically correct in that any pressure deflections, for example of the pedestal caps and of the upper chucks 3 cannot produce any edge pressures at the superimposed pressure plates 12 of the projections 13a on one hand and the support plates l3 of the chucks 3 at the other hand, because both plates will assume an inclined position in the same direction upon a deformation of the chuck and the pedestal cap under a roller pressure because the oppositely directed forces which are effective at the support surfaces produce stresses which have the same direction of rotation. This provides thus the same effect as in the case of overhung mounted rollers.

What is claimed is:

1. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame comprising in combination:

opposed pedestals having substantially aligned openings,

pedestal caps mounted for vertical movement on said pedestals and having substantially aligned openings disposed above said pedestal openings,

mounting means disposed in said aligned openings,

hearing means received in said mounting means,

horizontally disposed rollers journalled in said bearing means,

projections extending radially into at least two of said aligned openings,

a corresponding abutment on said mounting means,

and opposed support surfaces on said projections and said corresponding abutment means,

at least one of said support surfaces having a convexly curved face to allow a tilting movement of said mounting means on said projections following deflections of said rollers during the rolling operations.

2. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame comprising in combination:

opposed pedestals having substantially aligned pedestal openings,

pedestal caps mounted for vertical movement on said pedestals and having substantially aligned pedestal cap openings disposed above said pedestal openings,

mounting means disposed in said pedestal openings and said pedestal cap openings,

lbearing means received in said mounting means,

horizontally disposed rollers journalled in said bearing means,

projections on said pedestals and said pedestal caps extending radially into said openings substantially on the horizontal center plane of said rollers,

corresponding abutmentscn said mounting means,

and opposed support surfaces on said projections and said corresponding abutments,

at least one of said support surfaces having a convexly curved face to allow a tilting movement of said mounting means on said projections following deflections of said rollers during the rolling movements.

3. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame comprising in combination:

a pair of opposed pedestals,

a pair of pedestal caps mounted on said pedestals and adjustable vertically relative to said pedestals,

said pedestals and pedestal caps having opposed horizontally aligned openings,

at chuck mounted in each opening,

bearing means received in said chucks,

a pair of horizontally disposed vertically aligned rollers having a support shaft at each end journalled in said bearing means,

projections on said pedestals and said pedestal caps extending radially into said openings in the horizontal center plane of said rollers,

corresponding abutments on said chucks,

and elongate support means fixed opposite each other to said projections and said abutments,

at least one of said support means having a convexly curved surface facing the other of said support means to allow a tilting movement of said chucks on said projections following deflections of said rollers during the rolling operations.

4. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame according to cla m 1 wherein the diameter of said rollers is larger than the distance between the projections of each opening, a cross-beam releasably interconnecting said opposed pedestals and pedestal caps for disassembly in a horizontal direction away from each other.

5. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame comprising in combination a pair of opposed pedestals,

a pair of pedestal caps mounted on said pedestals and adjustable vertically relative to said pedestals,

said pedestals and pedestal caps having opposed horizontally aligned openings,

a chuck mounted in each opening,

bearing means received in said chucks,

a pair of horizontally disposed vertically aligned rollers having a support shaft at each end journalled in said bearing means,

projections on said pedestals and said pedestal caps extending radially into said openings in the horizontal center plane of said rollers,

corresponding abutments on said chucks;

a first support plate having a straight face fixed to said projections,

and a second support plate having a conve'xly curved face fixed to said chucks and engaging said straight face of said projections allowing a tilting movement of said chucks on said projections following deflections of said rollers during rolling operations.

6. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame according to claim 5 wherein said support plates have a radially inwardly directed ledge engaging a corresponding groove in said chucks.

7. An expansion resistant rolling mill frame according to claim 5 'wherein the forces directed opposite each other on said first support plate and on said second support plate :produce stresses in the same direction of rotation, and said plates assume the same position of inclination under the rolling pressures.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,814,764 7/1931 Palmgren 80-311 2,289,410 7/1942 Dahlstrom 7240 CHARLES W. LAN HAM, Primary Examiner.

C. H. HITTSON, L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiners. 

1. AN EXPANSION RESISTANT ROLLING MILL FRAME COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: OPPOSED PEDESTALS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY ALIGNED OPENINGS, PEDESTAL CAPS MOUNTED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT ON SAID PEDESTALS AND HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY ALIGNED OPENINGS DISPOSED ABOVE SAID PEDESTAL OPENINGS, MOUNTING MEANS DISPOSED IN SAID ALIGNED OPENINGS, BEARING MEANS RECEIVED IN SAID MOUNTING MEANS, HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ROLLERS JOURNALLED IN SAID BEARING MEANS, PROJECTING EXTENDING RADIALLY INTO AT LEAST TWO OF SAID ALIGNED OPENINGS, A CORRESPONDING ABUTMENT ON SAID MOUNTING MEANS, AND OPPOSED SUPPORT SURFACES ON SAID PROJECTIONS AND SAID CORRESPONDING ABUTMENT MEANS, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SUPPORT SURFACES HAVING A CONVEXLY CURVED FACE TO ALLOW A TILTING MOVEMENT OF SAID MOUNTING MEANS ON SAID PROJECTIONS FOLLOWING DEFLECTIONS OF SAID ROLLERS DURING THE ROLLING OPERATIONS. 